Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney contradict pledge with 37-minute Wrexham flight as Red Dragons face fresh criticism for another short-haul jet trip

During the Red Dragons’ National League title-winning campaign in 2022-23, it emerged that the Welsh outfit regularly travelled by jet – instead of bus or train – to away games. They took in 16 domestic flights that season, averaging just 43 minutes in the air.

It has now emerged, courtesy of Fossil Free Football, that they took to the skies again when travelling to Wycombe for a crunch clash with their fellow League One promotion hopefuls. Wrexham chartered a plane that flew out of Jersey and picked up the team at Hawarden Airport. It dropped them off at Oxford Airport.

That journey was just 150 miles, with the jet in question then returning to the Channel Island before picking Phil Parkinson’s squad up again the next day. Five flights covered 1,155 miles during five hours of flying time, when the journey would have taken around three hours each way in a coach.

Hollywood star Reynolds recently visited the United Nations in New York alongside Wrexham directors Humphrey Ker and Shaun Harvey. They signed up to the 'Football for the Goals' initiative, which includes a commitment to sustainability polices that are intended to help fight climate change.

Fossil Free Football said after learning of Wrexham’s latest flight: “Football at all levels is threatened by increased rainfall and flooding directly linked to the burning of fossil fuels. So there just can't be room in the sport for short haul, ultra polluting and totally avoidable flights. If fans can travel a few hours to a match by coach or train, then so can teams like Wrexham, especially when they are also talking about positive impact and sustainability at the United Nations.”

Wrexham are considered to have only saved around an hour-and-a-half of travelling time by taking a plane, rather than heading to Wycombe by road. They are looking to conserve energy during another promotion push, but need to take the much bigger picture into account when drawing up plans for away fixtures – with a trip to Cambridge set to be taken in on Tuesday.